Archives of American Art

Oral History interview with Carlos Villa

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.villa95
Creators:
Villa, Carlos, 1936-2013
Karlstrom, Paul J.
Dates:
1995 June 20-July 10
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
134 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Carlos Villa conducted 1995 June 20-July 10, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Villa discusses his "progress" from Filipino background to his art world identity; the phenomena and individuals who contributed to the new awareness in the mid-1970s: "El Movimiento," Chicano "Rasquache," Rupert Garcia, Amalia Mesa-Baines; the idea of "recuperation," and the sense of Asian-American identity and community as a basis for his art. Villa recalls growing up in San Francisco; his early life; living in the Tenderloin district and his exposure to racism; the influence of his cousin, artist Leo Valledor; growing up Filipino in California and the difficulties that accompanied it. Villa discusses popular (black) culture, jazz "guapo," zoot-suit style as role models and basis for aesthetic/art; his admiration for black self-esteem; his aesthetics; viewing art as a way out of the ghetto and an escape from racism.
Scope and Contents
Villa discusses his introduction to the California School of Fine Arts (soon thereafter the San Francisco Art Institute); his need to be part of the artist community; CSFA and other students and teachers; and his self-conception as a modernist. He discusses the technical aspects of his art; the influence of various Bay Area artists on his work; his investigation of Filipino art history and his role models; the role of the women at the CSFA and women as role models. Villa recalls his first show at Pointdexter in New York; his associations with minimalists and the Park Place Gallery group; his New York minimalist phase and his need to escape the New York environment after six years. He discusses his return to the Bay Area and his use of identity/politics as subjects for his art.
Scope and Contents
Villa recalls or mentions Rupert Garcia, Leo Valledor, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, Bill Morehouse, David Stone Martin, Wallace Berman, William Wiley, Bob and Dona Hudson, Bill Allen, Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, Ralph DuCass, Walter Kuhlman, Wally Hedrick, Bruce Conner, Alvin Light, Claire Falkenstein, Bob McFarlane, Hayter, Tapies, Fred Martin, Nathan Oliveira, Jennifer Bartlett, Dick Maclean, Elizabeth Murray, Alfred Neumeyer, Mark Rothko, Kenneth Noland, Sol Lewitt, Mark di Suvero, Robert Grovesnor, Tom Seligman, Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg, Angela Davis, and Moira Roth.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Carlos Villa (1936-2013) was a Filipino American painter, curator, and educator in San Francisco, California.

Administration

Sponsor
The digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 8 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 15 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr., 40 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Modernism (Art) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Latino and Latin American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Filipino American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Filipino American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American curators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American educators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Valledor, Leo, 1936-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Garcia, Rupert, 1941- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Neri, Manuel, 1930- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brown, Joan, 1938-1990 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wiley, William T., 1937-2021 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hudson, Robert, 1938- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bischoff, Elmer, 1916-1991 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922-1993 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Park Place Gallery Art Research, Inc. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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